The Returning Instincts
by Sunshine0927
Summary: When an investigation goes wrong for a major case, Nick ends up in a town days away from Zootopia with no idea how to get back and his partner, Judy, is left guilt-stricken and scrambling to find him. The town Nick ends up in is no ordinary town. As Nick continues to stay, however, he finds it harder to leave due to the special mammals he became attached to. Full summary inside -


Full Summary

 **When an investigation goes wrong for a major case, Nick ends up in a town days away from Zootopia with no idea how to get back and his partner, Judy, is left guilt-stricken and scrambling to find him. The town Nick ends up in is no ordinary town. As Nick continues to stay, however, he finds it harder to leave due to the special mammals he became attached to. Little do they know, this town is about to be part of a much larger, and potentially violent, plan. Can the duo save the town from catastrophe?**

* * *

"So while I was getting our coffee today…"

"Yeah?"

"I saw a certain barista there that just so happened to be a vixen."

"Hm."

"Just putting that out there."

"Oh Carrots I love how you're so observant… but I don't care."

"Ergh!" Judy stomped her foot as both detectives walked through the halls of precinct 1, "Nick come on! You've gotta work with me on this!"

"Sorry Carrots but this fox likes to wander alone." Nick said with a half-lidded smile

"Nick I just want you to be happy." Judy said with seriousness

"And I am happy!" He exclaimed with raised eyebrows, "And aren't you perfectly happy living the single-mother life with little Carly?"

"Nick I love my life. I don't know if you love yours though. I just wanna help you get to the place where I'm at."

"Well don't worry about it. And who knows? Maybe in the future I might find someone. I'm fine. Now lets just get this meeting with chief buffalo butt underway and you can go back to finding me a potential mate in no time."

Judy snorted as he knocked on the Chief's door.

* * *

"Detectives," Bogo started, "What I'm about to give you is one of the most important cases you two will ever face."

Judy and Nick exchanged glances. Chief Bogo pulled out a red file and slapped it on the desk in front of both of them, opening it to reveal a mugshot of a mean-looking but well-kept wolverine. He grinned in his mugshot but it was twisted and malicious. He had a scar going down his cheek.

"His name is Christian Fangton. People on the streets call him 'Fangs.' Fifteen years ago we brought him in, accused of mammal trafficking. Mostly prey animals. He went to jail for an hour… one whole hour and he managed to escape. We hadn't seen him since until yesterday. He was seen in a black sedan in Sahara Central. before we could get to him, he escaped."

Nick reached towards the file and brought it down to his and Judy's level. Inside were multiple photos of warehouses.

"Those are some warehouses he and his gang are known to set up shop in. For today, I want you to investigate each one and get an idea of what exactly they're planning if they're planning anything. If you find nothing, then we can try again tomorrow."

So their work began from all-nighters to long drives around town. The duo practically put their heart and soul into this case. Their efforts, however, were turning up cold. They would interrogate and investigate and go through the evidence about a thousand times. Two weeks of hard work and still, there was nothing! Bogo recognized their looks of desperation and had to admit they looked terrible. He overheard their morning conversation and learned that Nick hadn't slept for more than an hour last night and Judy hadn't even slept in two days. He approached their joined office and knocked on their door.

"Come in." Judy groaned from the other side.

Bogo opened the door and widened his eyes at the scene. There were papers everywhere. Judy laid atop her desk while Nick sat on the ground with his legs folded, his head in his paws, letting out one long high-pitched whine.

Judy moved her head to look over at him, "Hey Chief Bogo."

"Good lord! What happened to you two?" He exclaimed as he maneuvered around the strategically placed papers.

"This case happened." Nick said without lifting his head. "All of our leads have been dead ends and no help at all in locating Christian Fangton."

"I can tell." Bogo said picking up the file of leads and examining all of the red crosses on their faces.

He began to believe this case was, indeed, a dead end. Nick and Judy were some of his best detectives and if they couldn't crack it, he didn't know who could. Perhaps he would write someone in a higher branch to look into it. He couldn't exhaust his officers on this.

"Alright new plan," He started, "You two will go to your respective homes and rest yourselves. I want you bright and alert for tomorrow. You will be given a new case."

Nick and Judy moved from their current positions, exchanging looks of confusion, "But Chief we can solve this one!" Judy exclaimed, completely flabbergasted.

"And that's what I'm afraid of. Fangton is a dangerous criminal and I should have thought better than to involve you two into the case, potentially threatening your lives. So you both will do as I say… please."

Nick's furrowed brow melted away as he, for the first time, saw the Chief in a state that was unfamiliar to him. He smiled to himself before standing up and grabbing his coat. Bogo had already made a quick exit from the office. Judy, however wasn't happy. She looked down in defeat only to look back up at Nick who held out her coat and brief case to take.

"Come on Hopps." He smiled, "Let's go home."

Judy exhaled before taking it from his paws and hopping down from the desk. As they began walking out of the room, Judy stepped on a piece of paper. There was an address written on it in Nick's writing. An address they had received via an anonymous phone call. They planned on visiting it when they were able but they never were able to. Judy made sure Nick wasn't looking before she snatched the paper off the ground and walked out behind him.

* * *

Nick had fallen asleep once they had gotten in the car but woke up when Judy cooed him awake. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, "Where are we?"

"Remember that anonymous tip? Well here's where they were talking about."

It was an abandoned warehouse a good ways away from the city limits. It served as a holding house for cargo when it was delivered by train. It was all rusted on the outside and there were many broken windows. Vines and all sorts of moss decorated it. Nick let his head fall back in annoyance.

"Judy. Chief said for us to go home. This isn't home. We aren't supposed to be working on this case anymore anyways!" he threw his paws in the air.

"I know I know! But just one quick walkthrough. Just ten minutes and then we can go I promise. Maybe we'll find some wolverines who'll tell us where Fangton is!"

Nick looked over to his partner and then at the warehouse in front of him. A feeling came over him. It wasn't good. It was more instinct than opinion. He knew foxes were seen as the sketchy society of Zootopia before they were more welcomed into the hearts of the prey. But Wolverines were far worse than foxes. He had run into a few in his con-man past and the outcome for each landed with the cops being called and a scurry from the scene.

Judy went to unbuckle her seatbelt when Nick stopped her.

"What is it?" she asked with a furrowed brow. Nick stared ahead at the warehouse, "I'm not so sure about this Hopps."

She rolled her eyes, "If we succeed in finding something, we might just be able to prove to Bogo that we can handle this sort of thing."

Nick was once again taken by the feeling of suspicion. He looked over to her again but found she was gone and walking towards the warehouse. He grumbled as he unbuckled and left the car.

The pair cracked the side door open to the warehouse and Judy put her ear up to it.

"What do you hear?" Nick whispered. She furrowed her brow as she listened and he watched as her face lit up, "I hear an opportunity." She grinned

Nick let out a breath before moving her aside and slowly crawling in, making sure the coast was clear. The duo scurried behind some crate against the wall and peered over. There were wolverines everywhere. They were busy fiddling with test tubes and loading these strange compartments into a train parked on the railing that was built into the warehouse perpendicularly. But what stood out to them most of all were the hundreds of blue flowers being kept alive by indoor planting beds and heat lamps. The duo knew them too well.

"Night Howlers." Judy whispered

"What do they want with those?" Nick asked aloud

"I don't know but come on! Lets go take some pictures." Judy nudged him as she whipped out her phone and crawled along the crates.

"Wait! Judy!" Nick whispered

She didn't hear him which made Nick seriously question the fact that rabbits were known for their intent hearing. He looked around nervously before following her. As Judy took photos, Nick stood guard of her general area. He suddenly picked up a conversation between two henchmen.

"You hear about the new cages?"

"Oh-ho yeah! So high tech. The best part is I can monitor them from this control pad. I can do whatever I want to whatever's inside."

The other snickered.

Nick peered from behind a pile of soil sacks at the control pad the wolverines were talking about. On the screen, between the two animals, was an image of what he assumed to be the cage. It was a white cube with two windows. Nick himself took his phone out and snapped a photo of the cage.

Judy continued to hop along and take photos in silence until something caught her eye. It was a cube with three walls and 1 glass window. The other wall was open and exposed. To her this was interesting. She approached and turned around to check if Nick was looking. He wasn't. Probably held up listening to a convo about night howlers. She stepped in and the cold metal of the base sent chills through her body. Something wasn't right about this box. Judy noticed something in the upper corner. Exposed wires. She didn't know better, but she shouldn't have let her curiosity take over.

"-exposed wire in one of the cages because there was a bug in the system. It should be up and running in a few days."

"Hey when's the shipment going out?"

"Today, and we're gonna use the train. In fact, it should be rather soon…"

Nick suddenly remembered his duty of look out for where Judy was and when he turned around she was standing in the center of one of- wait or it -the cages. She was messing with the exposed wiring.

Nick silently gasped and ran towards her. "Judy! Stop!" he hissed. Her head whipped around to his direction. Just as an alarm began to sound from the top of the cage, Nick dove in and threw her out in desperation, switching places with her. The wiring she was tampering with sparked and a thick glass wall came slamming down and sealed into place. Nick was trapped. Judy sat up and ran towards the cage, "Nick are you okay!?"

He hit the glass and grunted before doing a full examination of the inside. There was no way out.

"Look! One of them's got something!" A henchman exclaimed

"Lets go check it out!" The wolverines began to run in the direction of the cage.

Judy whimpered and hit the glass. "There's nothing you can do!" Nick yelled, eyes full of desperation "Run!"

"But-"

A green gas blew through vents in the walls and slowly began to envelope him.

"Judy listen to me!" He yelled, "You have to get back to the station tell Bogo what's happening. Tell him we- we need…" His eyes rolled to the back of his head before his legs failed and his body crumpled to the ground.

"Nick!" Judy screamed.

"Hey!" one of the wolverine's hollered, "Who's over there?!" Judy took one last look at Nick before running behind the crates again. The two henchmen ran up to the cage. Judy got a good look at them. Personally, she had never come into contact with one before but these definitely fit Nick's description. They were big, strong, and rugged. Their claws were incredibly long and sharp. Capable of cutting through a sheet of metal.

"Its a fox. Just what the Fang man wanted." One said with please.

"Looks like we have our first subject." They both grinned at each other.

Judy wondered what they meant. But for the time being she wondered what they were going to do with him. She knew the henchmen who worked for Fangton were involved with mammal trafficking so it couldn't be anything good. Her heart pounded in her chest.

"Hey! We've got a subject over here!" The one on the right yelled.

Judy quickly glanced at the cage where Nick's unconscious body lay. The smoke had cleared and he showed no obvious sign of waking up any time soon.

"Oh Nick…" Judy whispered.

A wolverine came over with a dolly and loaded the cage onto it. He pushed it through a walkway between the planters. Judy scurried after it but made sure to stay hidden. she managed to get a good view from the top of some stacked crates, close to the ceiling. From afar she watched as they loaded him into a train car containing hundreds of empty cages. The sight made her fur stand in end. Hopefully she could get backup there before the train shoved off. But much to her dismay she left her radio in their office. They slid the door closed and the sound made her panic even more.

The train whistle sounded and the whole thing lurched forward. It was leaving. Now.

"Shit." Judy cursed to herself.

"Hey!" A wolverine yelled. Judy looked down at the many wolverine eyes in her direction. "Come here you little _appetizer._ " One was climbing up the tower of crates and snarled. Judy shrieked and dodged his claws just in time. She felt something snap around her neck but she didn't care. She had no choice but to jump. The moment she landed she high-tailed it out of there. Wolverines tried catching her but she was too quick. Judy darted outside, surprised that none of them had followed her. The rabbit ran for the patrol car, hit the unlock button on her keys and the whole thing exploded, blowing her back a few feet.

They must have rigged it while they were inside. They knew Nick and Judy were there the whole time. She pushed herself up and let out a yell of anger as the flames engulfed the vehicle. But Judy had to keep going. She looked over her right shoulder at the train leaving the warehouse and going along the tracks leading to the woods. The car holding Nick passed in an instant... and then it was gone behind the trees.

* * *

The precinct was silent. Every mammal went along with their business. Clawhauser, however, was busy wondering why patrol car 14's radio suddenly went offline. He was about to get his answer. Judy bursted through the doors in hysterics, "They have Nick! They took him! They took Officer Wilde!" Everyone in the lobby began murmuring and walked toward the panicked officer.

"What!?" Clawhauser stood and ran from behind his desk, "Judy what are you talking about?"

"Nick and I were investigating a warehouse outside the city and it was full of wolverines and- and they caught him and he's gone! And then the car-!" She cried.

"Hopps!" Bogo walked into the lobby, "What's all this shouting about?"

"It's Nick! Sir, we-we were investigating some warehouse and Nick was taken. I think Christian Fangton was behind it!"

His gruff expression went to one of shock, "Impossible," He said, "I sent you both home."

Judy began crying, "I didn't listen! I'm.. It's my fault!"

Bogo shook his head and closed his eyes as Judy wept into Clawhauser's shoulder.

* * *

Soon after the explosion happened and the workers inside discovered that she wasn't in the car at the time, the door to an overlook booth in the warehouse opened, and down the stairs came the Wolverine behind the whole operation. Christian Fangton himself. Every step he took down, the wolverines became more and more silent. A younger, female wolverine approached him with glasses and a clipboard. His secretary. Who knew you needed a secretary to run an illegal operation? Well, if you wanted to keep it organized then that was the way to go wasn't it?

"So, how'd it go?" He asked her as he adjusted the cuff-links on his suit. The workers went back to their business.

"Well your anonymous tip was successful in getting them here. It seemed to be the rabbit's idea to come here in the first place. The fox officer was captured, gassed and is currently on his way to 2 via the cargo train."

"Good. Thats good. And what about the rabbit?"

"She... escaped, sir. She wasn't killed in the patrol car explosion either."

"Hmm."

"But one of our workers did happen to catch this off her." The secretary handed him a badge. He took it and read the name engraved on the back, "Judith Laverne Hopps, ZPD." He chuckled aloud, "Its that famous bunny cop. Must be a special duo if that fox was her partner."

The secretary hesitated, "Sir, what are we going to do about the rabbit?"

"What are we gonna do? We're gonna have fun!" He held up the badge and bared his teeth in the reflection of the metal. Almost as if he were checking them for a piece of food, "This is only the beginning."

* * *

 **So! That is the end of chapter one! Let me know if I should continue in the reviews! Love you all!**


End file.
